Improvement in hoese eay-foeis



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i @geiten gratte @anni @Hina A. B. SPROUT,k 0F HUGHESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

LeaersPaaemsNo. 6416s, dazed April 23,1867. l i

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE HAY-roars.

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TO ALL WHOMIT MAY CONCERN: I,

Be it known that I, A. B. SPROUT, of Hughesville, in the county of Lycoming, and State of 1Bennsylvania,

' have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hay-Elevators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon. A

My invention consists-inv an improvement of the horse hay-fork for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted to me on the first day of May, 1866, and numbered 54,431.

The nature of the improvement herein described consists in providing the lower points with shoulders or hooks and bevelled cutting edges, said points being so constructed and arranged with relation to each other' that when they are closed up said 'shoulders or hooks are guarded, and the two points form one coniform point provided with bevelled sides; the whole being constructed and arranged for the purpose of furnishing a horse hay-fork or hay-elevator, with a point provided with a cutting edgefor cutting its way into ,the hay.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation. In the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved hay-elevator.

Figure 2 represents an edge view of the same.

In the drawings, A and B represent two flat bars of iron or steel, or steel and iron combined. Said bars are bent into the form represented in figs. 1 and 2, and are hinged or pivoted at the point marked x. The -upper end of the bar B is provided with a ring or loop, and pulley, e. To the upper end of the bar A is pivoted, at the point marked 3, a bar or lever, D, which is pivoted to arbar or lever, C, at the point marked 2, which bar or lever C is pivoted to the bar B at the point marked 1. To the part 4 of the bar or lever C is attached a cord or rope, z', which passes up over the pulley e. To the ring or loop l1. is attached theA hoisting rope J. The lower ends of the bars A and B are provided with coniform points marked f and g, which points are furnished with shoulders or hooks 6 and 7. The inner side of the couiform pointsfand g are flat, and in grinding are made L slightly concave, so that 'they fit together, and the outside of said points are bevelled od' `to a sharp edge. The edges of the point f project slightly past the edges of the poiutg for the purpose of forming a keen cutting edge to the point. i

The operation of my improvement is as follows: When I desire to cut outpart of the stack or mow of hay I open'out the points, as indicated bythe dotted lines in fig. l, and when thus opened out I force the points down into the hay and'they-will cut at each thrust of the fork or elevator a gap equal in length to the distance between the outer edges of the points f and g, and the depth of the cut will be, equal to the distance it is forced down into the hay, when the desired part of the stack or mow is out out. I then close up the fork or elevator, as shown in figs. l and 2. I then, by pressing down on the ring and the part marked 5, force the fork or elevator down into the centre of the mass of hay which has been out loose. I then press down on the part 4 of the bar lever C, which will spread out the bars A and B at the upper end, which spreading of the bars will open out or spread the points f and g and cause the shoulders orI hooks 6 and 7 to catchv in the hay, taking care to spread the bars A andB until the pivot joint 2 drops below the line marked m. I then hoist the hay by drawing on rope J until itis elevated to the desired place. I then draw on the cord z', which will draw up the barsror levers C and D, which will bring the upper ends of the bars A and B together and close the points f and g, which closing of the points will allow the hay to drop o' the fork or elevator. By use of the cutting l edges on the points f and g, and so arranging them that when they are closed up they will formrafsingle point L. provided with a cutting edge, the fork or elevator can with greater ease be forced into the hay, for the point cuts i the way for the fork or elevator. and thereby greatly lessen's the labor of forcing the fork or elevatorinto the hay.

Having thus described lthe nature, construction, and operation of my improvement, what I claim as of my invention, is I l i v p The eoniforml points and g, provided with cutting edges, and shoulders or hooks 6 and 7, constructed arranged, and operating snbstantally as herein described and for the purpose set forth.

' l v A. B. 'SPROU i W'itne'sses;

JAMES J. JOHNSTON,

j `WEsLEY JOHNSTON. 

